make-the-city

Today is the day! Cambridge Bicycle Safety invites you to join us at 6:00 pm TONIGHT at City Hall, Wednesday October 17th, for the Rally for Safer Bike Lanes, our most important bike safety event of the year.

To show why this matters we will be putting 160 bikes on the City Hall lawn to represent how many times each year first responders are called to a crash when a person on a bike is hit by a car.

RSVP now on facebook and show up at 6pm.

Bring your bike and bike lights!

Invite friends and family who support completing the network of protected bike lanes.

At the rally we’ll be officially launching a petition campaign to complete a city-wide network of protected bike lanes in five years and you’ll have the opportunity to hear the stories of people from all walks of life in Cambridge who bike and walk.

A citywide network of protected bike lanes would make 40% of crashes physically impossible, and many others less likely. The infrastructure changes we’re advocating for will also make the city safer for pedestrians to navigate and help avoid tragedies such as this year’s.

Join us in showing city officials that there is widespread support for implementing these lanes in order to create a safe, city-wide protected network that serves residents of all ages and abilities.

That’s how many times each year first responders are called to a crash involving a person on a bike being struck by a car, according to Cambridge Police Department data.

That’s 160 times too many.

One more number for you: three. That is how many people have died walking on Cambridge streets this year, all within a mile of City Hall.

Cambridge Bicycle Safety invites you to join us at City Hall next Wednesday, October 17 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm for our most important event of the year. We are launching our petition campaign to complete the city-wide network of protected bike lanes in five years by putting 160 bikes on the Cambridge City Hall lawn. One for every crash. Meet people from all walks of life in Cambridge who bike and walk, hear their stories, and show city officials your support for safer streets. Please bring your bike and bike lights!

A citywide network of protected bike lanes would make 40% of crashes physically impossible, and many others less likely. The infrastructure changes we’re advocating for—separated lanes and traffic calming—will also make the city safer for pedestrians and help avoid tragedies such as this year.

The City has recognized the importance of protected bike lanes but is not moving quickly enough to implement them in response to crash data and the recent deaths of bicyclists. There are approximately 20 miles of protected bike lanes specified in the 2015 Bicycle Plan but in the past three years, only 1.2 miles have been built. In addition, there have been several cases of the city not following through on the vision in the Bicycle Plan when it rebuilds streets.

Our petition, which has already been signed by over 1,300 people, calls for:

A commitment to build the network by 2023 with a mix of permanent construction and quick-build approaches, installing a minimum of two miles per year.

In 2019, the city funds the development of a 25% preliminary design for the complete network.

A commitment to comply with the City’s Bicycle Plan whenever a street is reconstructed or improvements are made.

Join us in showing city officials that there is widespread support for implementing these lanes in order to create a safe, city-wide protected network that serves residents of all ages and abilities.